artist and educator

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I am an interdisciplinary artist and educator who believes in the power of games to create empathetic experiences. Born in Milford, Connecticut, I graduated from Illinois State University in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree focusing on Fine Art Photography, and from Loyola University Chicago in 2011 with a graduate certificate in Graphic Design. I received my MFA from Columbia College Chicago’s Interdisciplinary Arts and Media program in 2015, where I was awarded the Weisman Award for completion of my thesis project, Bitter Pills.

We know that interaction and play - the tenets of gaming - are beneficial when sharing an experience or learning a new lesson. We all crave interaction; we all benefit when we share what we've learned with each other. My art - my games - bring that interaction to the gallery. These interactions are a whole new experience for a gallery, based in something wholly familiar to us all. Rolling a die, flipping a card, and winning (or losing) don't have to stay within the home.

Being able to see someone else's perspective is one of the best ways to understand their lived experiences. A chronic invisible illness can't be easily described in words or images; each individual, and each illness, are completely unique. But by imitating the experience illness through gaming, a person can start to understand how frustrating it is to complete a seemingly simple task like taking medications daily. That emulation through gaming allows the player to, for a moment, live like someone else - all while having some fun.

Everyone can game, and gaming is for everyone. And I'm going to bring it to everyone I can.